The Sciences of Roger Bacon's Opus Maius (eBook, PDF)

Redaktion: Allen, Meagan S.

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

Through an examination of the Opus maius, Roger Bacon's great scientific work of 1267, this book offers insight into Bacon's understanding of the role of science in society and the study and practice of science in the later Middle Ages.

Written at the request of Pope Clement IV (d. 1268), the Opus maius contains English Franciscan and polymath Roger Bacon's plans for educational and ecclesiastical reform through the study of arts and sciences, which Bacon saw as having been neglected in the curricula of the major European universities. In writing the Opus maius, Bacon wanted to demonstrate that not only were the sciences a solid foundation for learning theology, but they could also improve society and help mankind attain salvation. This volume contains nine essays on the sciences Bacon thought were most important in this scheme, including optics, mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, medicine, and experimental science. Each provides a focused examination of the individual sciences, demonstrating how Bacon understood and practised them, as well as how he envisioned they would fit together into his larger programme of scientific reform.

This thought-provoking collection will be a valuable resource to historians of science, medicine, and philosophy, as well as those in medieval and premodern studies.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 198
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. September 2025
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781040415412
• Artikelnr.: 75124313

Autorenporträt

Meagan S. Allen is a historian of science, specializing in the medical alchemy of the later Middle Ages. Her research interests lie at the intersection of alchemy, pharmacology, and theology, especially in the writings of the thirteenth-century polymath Roger Bacon. She is the author of Roger Bacon and the Incorruptible Human: Alchemy, Pharmacology, and the Desire to Prolong Life (2023), which examines Bacon's desire to use alchemy to create a medicine that would extend human life by centuries. Allen is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of the History of Science and Technology at Johns Hopkins University, USA.

Inhaltsangabe

The Opus maius: A Plea for Reform 1. Roger Bacon's Scientia Experimentalis:
A Review of Bacon's diverse Treatises 2. The Division of the Sciences in
Opus maius IV, 1, 2: Roger Bacon's Sources and Their Transformation 3. The
Science of Weights: Jordan of Nemore's Influence on Roger Bacon's
Scientific Method 4. Roger Bacon and John Pecham on the Nature and Role of
Arithmetic 5. On Vision: Roger Bacon's Opus maius (V.1-2) from the
perspective of Alhazen's Optics (I-II) 6. Roger Bacon on Mathematics,
Perspectiva and Astrology: The 'Unnamed Master' Revisited 7. Knowability
and Power of Ars: Roger Bacon's Utopian Science as Anti-Magic 8. Alchemy
and Pharmacology in the Opus maius 9. Roger Bacon and Secrecy: Alchemical
Techniques of Deception and the Doctor Mirabilis